1 Solis Arcana

Around the world, people of varying cultures can be found. All of these cultures are rich in their history and folklore. For example, the people of Scandinavia, who spread the mythical stories of their Norse gods and goddesses. A well-known set of myths and tales would be the ones that the people of Greece shared with the world. Going East, you find China, who have their myths of their own gods and goddesses.

All of these myths vary significantly from one another, but there is one stand-alone fact that all the myths of Greece, Scandinavia, and China share. That is the inclusion of mythical creatures, ranging from Norse's own Jörmungandr, Greece's Cerberus, and China's many dragons. There are many more creatures besides those spanning over many myths and tales. People of all ages enjoy these stories, but there is a boy who knows all the truth behind those legends and myths.

It was early morning and Solis was not happy to have been forced to wake up so early. His reason? He had to go to school.

Solis was a teenager of above-average height and disheveled, curly jet-black hair. He also had unnaturally clear, brown skin that usually got a lot of people's attention. He had a scar that ran down the back of his neck due to an accident that had happened when he was younger. He also had one very distinct feature about him. If you were to ask a student who Solis was they couldn't tell you. His presence alone never left an impression, but if you were to ask about the boy with golden eyes, they would know who you were talking about

A senior, Solis was a well-involved student at his school. He participated often in extracurricular activities after school, and because of this earned the trust of many of the staff there. He kept to himself most of the time which caused people to think he was a social recluse, but when needed he could start a conversation, he just chose not to most of the time. Not particularly popular, but not ignored either, he was the student who you didn't have to worry about being around.

Not wanting to waste any time he went ahead and started his morning routine. He started off by fixing his bed, then moved on to brushing his teeth, and then got himself changed. Making sure to grab all his school stuff and checking it's all there, he went downstairs and began making breakfast. The sound of multiple footsteps could be heard coming from the stairs, and two figures revealed themselves.

"Haaah, thank goodness you're always first to get up Solis, without you, we wouldn't last a week hehe," said the figure of a small boy.

"I second that," said the girl with a smile on her face.

"Finally, looks like you two had the strength to get out of your beds...Good morning, Fera and Ad."

The two figures belonged to Fera and Ad Arcana. Fera, short for ferocity, was the second eldest and the only daughter in their family. She stood only slightly shorter than her brother's tall frame. She possessed the same jet-black hair her brother had, but hers was waist length and silky smooth. Her eyes were the same color as her brothers and she was regarded as one of the prettiest girls at their school but rarely paid attention to the stares of others.

While Ad, short for Adamant, was their youngest. Ad was tall for his age, standing shoulder height next to his sister. He had the same head of hair as his older brother but kept it more clean and straight instead of wavy. He too had the same brilliant golden eyes as his siblings and was admired at his school for them. He loved the attention and basked in it, which was the total opposite of his older brother.

The three of them took their seats and settled in before Solis spoke up, "All right you guys, you know what to do."

Recognizing Solis's cue to start, each sibling bowed in front of their food and then went to each other and touched foreheads. All three of them said, "We thank our forefathers and ancestors."

After they finished saying their thanks they started to dig in. You see, it was only the three of them in their little house because a long time ago their parents passed away when they were very young, and since then Solis took up the responsibility of caring for his siblings. They ate silently for the next few minutes and when they finished up they washed and put away their own dishes.

They headed out and went toward Solis's car. He did a little check-in with his siblings and made sure they all had what they need for the day and once that's done he pulled out and drove off. They went to Ad's school first since it was the farthest and because he's the only one that went to school by himself, while Fera and Solis both went to the same high school. They said their goodbyes to Ad and headed out themselves.

Solis found a parking spot easily and they got out and began walking to the doors.

"Hey Fera, I'll be late again coming home," said Solis.

"That's fine, I already know what I need to do after school," Fera said confidently.

"Thanks, Fera, you're the best."

Solis gave his younger sister a half hug.

They reached the main building of the school and split ways and head off to their first period. Their first half of school went on normally without anything significant happening, and before Solis knew it lunch rolled around. Not usually hungry when lunch came around, he liked to be productive and did what he could to help around the school. This time it seemed the autobody teacher needed help from Solis.

"Hey, Solis!"

He turned around towards the voice and responded, "Good afternoon, Mr. Monsoon, you need help moving stuff again today?"

"Hehe, glad you understand Solis," he said with a smile.

"Of course Mr. Monsoon, anytime."

He led the way towards his classroom, and Solis followed Mr. Monsoon closely. In the corner of the classroom where Mr. Monsoon's students worked on vehicles, a pile of bags that contained metal and other things sat there. Mr. Monsoon gestured towards the pile and Solis started working. Alternating between themselves, Mr. Monsoon and Solis quickly got all of the bags into the dumpster, and with time to spare Solis went back to the lunchroom. Before he left, the teacher gave his thanks to Solis and he nodded in acknowledgment. On his way back, he was met with a slap on the back.

He turned around to see a very familiar face, "Heya, Solis! Were you coming back from helping out Mr. Monsoon?"

"Yeah, and next time Lunis, please don't hit me in the back like that last time you did I was sore for a while."

"My bad my bad, hehe. It's just you usually seem down when we're at school."

"Well, I know you know I'm not and I know you know that's just my resting face."

"Hehe I do, but it's fun to tease you."

Lunis Alexandria, a long-time acquaintance of Solis. She was another girl regarded as one of the prettiest at the school for the air of maturity that radiated off her. She had long wavy blonde hair that many other girls at their school were jealous of. Her skin was also a topic of discussion because of its almost pearl-white and smooth appearance. Her eyes were the color of a deep blue and some said that if you stared into them long enough you could see the galaxy through her eyes.

They had spent many days together as children and were close even now. She was the only other female he ever had conversations with normally, besides his sister that is.

"Well lunch is about to end, so I'll catch you some other time alright?"

"Yeah, sure, Lunis."

They parted ways and sure enough, the bells rang signifying lunch ended and all the students proceeded to their next period. The last half of their school day ended uneventfully, and students scrambled out the doors to head home. The end of the school day usually meant that Solis could get to work. Like at lunch, he liked to go around asking the teachers if there was anything he could help them with, and here and there the teachers would say yes. The reason he liked to help out the people at his school is because of a promise he made to his parents, one he made sure to keep.

When he saw the clock hit five he decided it was time to wrap it up. He said his goodbyes to his teachers for the day and exited out the front doors.

On his way back to his car, he heard something disturbing in the distance, "I saw you making eyes at my woman!"

Hearing this made him stop dead in his tracks, and he paused to see if he could hear more.

"I-I only looked in her direction, I wouldn't dare make such a lascivious glare at her, a-and I'm sorry I didn't know you were her boyfriend."

He understood what the situation was about now and decided to act. He moved quickly to the other side of the school, which was a mile away in the opposite direction of his car, and there he saw what transpired.

It seemed that a boy with disheveled blonde hair had pinned a scrawnier, brown-haired boy to the wall by his collar. Anyone with working eyes could tell what was going on between the two. The fact that the blonde-haired boy was bullying the scrawnier boy over a trivial matter made Solis sad. He quickly stepped in and confronted the blonde-haired boy.

"Excuse me, I'd rather not see two humans fighting each other over something that can be solved peacefully."

Caught by surprise by a sudden visitor Monti, the blonde-haired boy, turned around to stare back at Solis.

"Please stop this, he apologized and gave a good reason I think you should let him go," Solis continued on.

He was irritated by the thought of a guy smaller than him trying to act like a hero. Monti was a guy who was above average in many categories. His height measured at six foot two and was a top-tier athlete. His grades were near the top of his class, the only problem was his unpleasant attitude. There he stood though, with someone he knew that was inferior to him trying to tell him what to do.

"Get out of here squirt unless you want me to pummel you too."

"There's no need for threats," Solis responded calmly.

"Shut up! Another word from you and I toss your sorry ass across this pavement!" Monti yelled back in irritation, "look I have business to finish with this runt in front of me so scram already!"

Not backing down Solis continued, "I ask you once more stop. I don't like watching others of the same race fight."

Being pushed over his limit he cocked his left hand back and brought it down onto the face of the kid in front of him, but what he felt was not the face of the person before him. Instead, it felt like his fist hit hard, tempered steel. The impact of his hand colliding with Solis's hand sent shivers up and down his arm and he reeled back in pain. His grip loosened on the brown-haired boy, and when he fell Solis gestured for him to get out of there.

Cradling his hand with his other hand, he stood back up to face Solis. Having been angered, even more, he charged at Solis in an attempt to tackle him. Solis stepped out of the way of an obvious attack and this caused Monti to fall flat on his face. Seizing his opportunity he got on top of Monti and pushed his hand onto his head. Monti struggled with all his might, but it was like Solis wouldn't budge an inch. He struggled more refusing to accept defeat to someone who didn't seem as physically strong as he was. Many failed attempts later he was on the ground exhausted and beat.

In a fit of rage, he shouted back at Solis, "You bastard! Get off of me!"

"I'm sorry, but this is for your own good," suddenly a glow of blue started radiating off of Solis's hand and onto the back of Monti's head.

"Wait, what are you doing back there?!"

"Rest easy now," with those three words Monti's body became motionless. When he lifted his hand off Monti's head there was no struggle, instead, he lay there sleeping.

"I'm glad that ended without too much struggle, I'm not a fan of having to fight you humans, you know," Solis said as he stood over the body of Monti.

He bent over and slung the sleeping body over his shoulder and as he turned around he saw the face of the boy from earlier. It seems he chose to stay and watch.

This held many problems for Solis, so he set down Monti and in a moment the brown-haired boy couldn't comprehend, Solis appeared behind him. The boy wracked his brain for what had just happened, but before he could contemplate anymore three words were uttered by Solis, "Rest easy now."

His consciousness escaped him and he fell into a slumber. Solis caught the body of the brown-haired boy before it hit the ground and slung him over his shoulder. He then walked back towards Monti and picked him up too. Brought both of their bodies back into the school building and set them into chairs next to the office of the school.

Now that he was sure that there would not be any more problems he finally went home.

Unlocking the door into his house he saw his little brother on their living room couch playing games.

"Hey Solis, welcome back," Ad said as he got up to greet his brother.

After, he ruffled his little brother's hair and continued on into the kitchen where he saw his sister at the table watching on her phone.

"So, you guys finished with your homework?"

"Yeah, we finished a while ago," said Fera and she got up from her seat and greeted her brother, touching their foreheads against one another's.

"Good. Anyways, I'm going to hit the shower, start up the stove, and set out some vegetables I'll make dinner after I'm done doing what I need to do."

"On it."

With that, she got up from her seat while Solis went upstairs and into his room. He hung his backpack onto a hook located next to his closet doors and set out some clothes that he'd wear after his shower. When he finished, he headed over to their bathroom and hopped into the shower. He didn't spend too much time in the shower and hopped back out quickly. As he dried himself off, he heard the doorbell ring

"Hey! Someone get it!" he shouted as he poked his body out of the bathroom.

He had a feeling he knew who it was and quickly finished up drying himself off. He went back into his room and got into his nightclothes, which was a blue tank top and black board shorts. Coming out of his room and going downstairs, he finally saw who the guests of their house were.

Standing next to the table was his long-time friend Lunis and her younger sister, Muun.

Muun was often thought of as a clone of her older sister. She shared many of her older sister's features, except, instead of having long wavy hair, she had shoulder-length hair that was straight. Her eyes also differed as hers were a sky-blue color. Muun was also loved by everyone who knew her due to her soft demeanor and very polite attitude.

Greetings were exchanged between Lunis and Solis in the form of hugs and touching foreheads. Solis bent down a little bit to hug Muun, and they too do the same.

"Well Muun what brings you here with Lunis tonight?"

"Lunis thought it would be a good idea to come by your guy's house and have dinner with you guys!"

"We appreciate you being here Muun," Solis said as he patted her head gently.

Lunis came in and told him, "Don't worry your pretty face though, Solis, we brought some food ourselves so that you don't have to cook so much."

"I appreciate it. Well, I was going to get started on our dinner so you wouldn't mind helping me out, right, Lunis?"

"I'd be happy to... Muun you go over to Ad and play for a little bit, I'll call you back when we're ready to eat."

"Mmhmm, gotcha."

She ran over to Ad and the two began talking after an exchange of greetings.

"While we're cooking, Fera, could you make sure we don't have any laundry that we need to do?"

"Sure, I'm on it."

Everyone did their own thing for the next hour and the time came when dinner had to be served.

The eldest siblings called to their younger ones and everyone gathered around the table. Conversations of what happened during their school day were exchanged among them. When Solis, the eldest there being older than Lunis by six months, spoke up, "Everyone let's begin."

The rest of them immediately ceased chatter and silence fell upon them. Just like what the siblings did earlier, they followed the same routine and all simultaneously said, "We thank our forefathers and ancestors."

They settled back down and their conversations resumed. Stories were told and occasional insults were flung across the table when Lunis then spoke up.

"Hey Solis, it's getting close to that time of year again. Are you and your siblings going to visit them again this year?"

All around the table they fell back into silence and the mood dipped a little, but Solis knew it was a question he would have to answer.

"Ahem, Lunis you know well we wouldn't miss it. Why ask?"

"W-well because Muun and I think that you should take a break from going."

It took a few moments for Solis to register what she said and then a blue glow started emitting off of him.

"HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST SUCH A THING!" He shouted at Lunis.

Taking a few moments to recollect himself he apologized to them, "Ehm, I-I apologize, that was uncalled for. Lunis to rephrase, never will I stop going. That is unless Fera and Ad don't want to go, then I won't force them to and it'll only be me who goes."

In a moment of surprise, Ad shot up from his seat and stated firmly, "Brother, I would never say no."

Across his seat, where Fera sat, she too nodded in agreement.

"That settles it then," Solis said while staring back at Lunis.

Feeling slightly guilty for bringing up a sensitive matter she apologized, "Y-yeah so it seems, I'm sorry for that Solis."

"You're forgiven, and none of us hold a grudge against you."

When things began to calm down, Solis felt a little tension left in the air so he decided to try and relieve it, "Ahem, now that we're done with dinner would you guys like to get some dessert?"

Muun was the first one to jump out of her seat and raised her hand. Solis was thankful she was a sweet girl because it made his job easier, "It seems Muun is up for it, anyone else?"

Everyone else just nodded, so they all got up and decided to go outside to their nearby grocery store. They all were all together and chatting the night away when they passed by an alleyway and heard some racket. It caught all their attention and they all stared down the alleyway, and to their surprise, there was a mugging in progress. Solis signaled the others to take cover behind something. They continued to watch when an idea came to Solis.

"Hey Ad," he whispered, "you thinking what I'm thinking?"

His brother stared back in confusion, and after a few seconds his face lit up, "W-wait you mean I get to?"

Solis nodded back in acknowledgment. Ad stood up from his hiding spot and did a little fist pump before walking out towards the mugger. After he walked a few feet away, Solis said to the others, "Let's find a better spot to watch."

Fera, Lunis, and Muun agreed and all of them got up. A light glow started to emit from their feet, and just before leaping they all checked around to see if there were any witnesses, and with the coast clear, all four of them lept onto the roofs of the neighboring buildings. They each seated themselves onto the ledges to spectate Ad.

With spring in his step and confidence in his chest, he alerted the mugger of his presence, "Hey you! Step away from the lady, we don't want to hurt anyone now do we?"

The mugger turned to see Ad and chuckled, "Hey kid, didn't anyone teach you manners? It's rude ya know to barge into someone else's business. Besides, she and I are good friends, promise."

"I'm not stupid, sir. Anyone with common sense would know what you're doing."

Ad got on the mugger's nerves and he really wanted to finish and get out of there, he had better things to do. He turned around towards the lady and punched her square in the face, knocking her unconscious.

"Alright kid, I was giving you a chance to get out of here but I'll teach you what happens when you don't respect your elders."

The mugger then pulled out a knife.

After seeing what the guy did to the lady Ad started getting angry himself so he shouted at the mugger, "Hey you had no right to do that! She was innocent!"

Up on the rooftops, the others watched Ad intently.

Ad started closing the distance between him and the mugger, and his body started to radiate a glow of sky-blue. The distance grew ever smaller and deciding to make the first move, the mugger lunged toward Ad. In a moment of shock, the mugger found his face on the pavement. He pondered about what had happened, but couldn't come up with a solution.

Regaining a few of his senses he felt that Ad was on his back and had his arm in an arm lock. He tried to wriggle his arm free, but Ad would just put pressure on his arm every time he tried which caused him to stop his efforts.

"Get off me kid!" he shouted back at Ad, but he didn't move an inch.

He tried to shake Ad off his back once again, but, like his previous attempt, Ad would put pressure onto his arm. The mugger's breathing started becoming erratic as his attempts at getting away were failing. His mind was racing to find a solution he decided on one, he would try to bribe Ad.

"H-hey little boy--"

He felt pressure on his arm again and screamed in pain. Ad lowered himself and spoke into the mugger's ear, "Don't call me little boy..."

"A-alright fine! Fine! I won't, just stop!"

With those words, Ad relieved the pressure.

"W-what do you say we make a deal?"

Ad's ears perked up and he replied, "What deal?"

The mugger could tell his grip loosened and decided to try more. When Ad's grip was loose enough, he intended on flinging him off his back and running.

"I-if you let me go I'll give you a hundred bucks."

"A hundred?! Ooo sounds good."

"Right? So you'll take it?"

"Can I have something else too?"

"Yeah s-sure, whatever you want!"

"Then I want a hundred more dollars!"

"DEAL!"

Ad's grip loosened even more and like the mugger planned he shot up and started running as fast as he could. Ad pretended to go along with the mugger's bribe, but he knew he couldn't let him get away. The mugger couldn't have gone more than two feet though when he found himself again on the ground.

"W-what?" he said in confusion.

Once again Ad was on the mugger's back and subdued both of the mugger's arms. His grip this time was stronger. The mugger felt as if his hands would pop off. Reaching peak desperation the mugger flung around wildly, but Ad did not loosen his grip at all. Slowly, he lowered himself and spoke softly into the mugger's ear, "I'll let you in on a little secret,"

the mugger ceased to move and listened.

"You see, we don't like humans like you. The kind that takes advantage of others," as he talked, Ad slowly started to put his hand onto the nape of the mugger, "other humans that are like you cause too much trouble for others and all of you should disappear."

The mugger felt a sinking feeling in his stomach and he started shouting for help. When Ad wrapped his hand around the mugger's nape he said only two words to cease the mugger's shouts.

"Fade away."

A surge of energy ran through Ad's arm and into the mugger's neck. This caused the mugger to convulse and you could see the veins of the mugger glow bright blue and soon he stopped moving. Foam seeped from the mouth of the mugger and his eyes were glassed and pearl white. Ad lifted himself off of the body and exhaled a plume of smoke.

This caused Solis and the rest of them to hop down from the roof. Of the four, Solis approached his brother and grabbed his arm, and squeezed.

In cries of pain, Ad yelled, "Ow ow! Stop it, Solis!"

"You didn't need to do that Ad! you could have finished it sooner AND without killing the man!"

"But-"

"Keep quiet! You know how disappointed mom and dad would be at you?"

Realizing what he had done, Ad's head fell down, and meekly replied, "Y-yeah I-I do. I-I'm sorry Solis."

Solis released his grip on Ad and tears started falling down his face. They all stood in silence then Solis embraced Ad. To comfort his brother, Solis told him, "It's alright Ad. I just had to let you know that you should never cross that line again you hear? I understand we make mistakes, but it can't be of this degree. Try and control yourself when you feel you're slipping okay? Make our parents proud, I know you can."

Ad looked up from his brother's chest and nodded, "That's our Adamant," Solis said as he looked down at his brother with a smile.

"Wipe those tears Ad, we have business we need to finish."

He sniffled a few times and nodded signifying he was ready. Solis nodded in acknowledgment and they all went to the store to get their desserts. They were quick to choose what they wanted to eat and left as soon as they chose. They were all chatting amongst themselves again when Solis decided to check the time.

He tapped Lunis on the shoulder and told her, "Lunis, it's almost nine. I think once we get close to my house you should split and go home."

"Alright, I'll do that."

As they agreed on, once they were close Lunis took Muun and said their goodbyes to the Arcanas and headed home. Whatever scraps they had leftover they threw away when they entered the house. They took off their shoes and left them on a rack near their door.

Ad spoke up and asked, "Hey Solis, was it alright to leave the woman there?"

Looking back at Ad he responded, "It's fine, I called the authorities and left some of my Essence to make sure she stays safe."

"Okay, that's good," after he exhaled a sigh of relief.

Solis chuckled a bit and ruffled his brother's hair, which caused Ad to bat his hand away. They all went upstairs and got cleaned up for bed. Once they all got their chance to bathe, Solis went into Fera's and Ad's rooms and told them good night. He retreated back into his own room and laid on his bed. As he lay there, memories of when he was younger flood his mind. A single tear escaped his eyes as he drifted off to sleep.